MORE than 1000 mourners, including
leading politicians from the UK and the Republic of Ireland,
attended the funeral service for the murdered prison officer David
Black, in Molesworth Presbyterian Church, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone, on
Tuesday.
Mr Black, who was 52 and a father of
two, was a regular worshipper at the church. He was gunned down on
Thursday, as he drove to work at the high-security Maghaberry
Prison.
In a statement from the leaders of the
Presbyterian Church, the Methodist Church, the Roman Catholic
Church, the Church of Ireland, and the Irish Council of Churches,
leading clerics of all the main traditions described their shock at
the murder - the first of a prison officer in 20 years.
They said: "As church leaders, we
stand shoulder-to-shoulder in support of men and women like Mr
Black, his Prison Officer colleagues, and all who serve the
community in upholding our common good."
In his address, the Minister of
Molesworth Presbyterian Church, the Revd Tom Greer, praised the
Black family for their dignity and courage. "They have determined
not to seek revenge or to encourage it in anyone else. They long to
see justice done, but will not meet other people's bitterness and
hatred with any of their own."
On Wednesday, the Police Service of
Northern Ireland announced that it had arrested a 46-year-old man
in Lurgan, in connection with the murder, and that another man was
being held by Gardaí in Co. Leitrim, across the border. Two other
suspects, also from Lurgan, who had been detained at the weekend,
have been released without charge.